SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MARE BERGER – THE MOON IS ALWAYS FULL

Mare Berger
The Moon Is Always Full
Independent

In most cases, the PR people try to colour a new release by their proteges in glorifying light, often giving descriptions that actually in many ways do not reflect the music the listener is to encounter. Well, here’s a case where the description tells it exactly like it is! The case in point is The Moon Is Always Full by Mare Berger, a teacher, jazz-trained pianist/composer, and singer/songwriter.

“The Moon is Always Full is a song cycle for voices and string quartet, about the moon, loss, wholeness, and our interconnectedness. The song cycle is a reminder that we are always whole, even when we feel fragmented. We are always connected, even when we feel alone. We are always more than the phase we are in. Each piece is about the part and the whole, and how they both exist simultaneously.”

Still, even a good description is not enough to make a judgement until you hear the music itself, particularly if this is Berger’s first ‘solo’ album. Also, on paper it all can sound a bit pretentious and dry.

Luckily,written descriptions are one thing, the music itself quite another. From the moment “Even When We Forget” starts with its slow building strings, to the concluding moments of “You Are Within,” you can actually sense that, yes, this is a song cycle, and yes “each piece is about the part and the whole.” And yes, Mare Berger has come up with something exceptional on The Moon Is Always Full.

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